This is a really good article by Larry Coon and illuminated many factors I did not even know existed. This basically further erodes any leverage Denver had and forces them to trade Melo prior to the deadline or lose him for nothing. Once the Nets realize Melo won't extend with them it leaves just the Knicks to swoop in and offer pennies on the dollar. I have a feeling Melo will be a Knick and many of you will be eating crow once he turns into a dominant fan favorite.

Quote:

The Carmelo Anthony rumors are back on the front burner this week. However, the sides appear to be locked in the same stalemate, with the New York Knicks being Anthony's preferred destination, while his current team, the Denver Nuggets, would prefer doing business with the New Jersey Nets.

Neither the Nets nor the Knicks have any plans to wait patiently while the Nuggets make up their minds. ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan reports that Knicks GM Donnie Walsh is attempting to trade for at least one first-round draft pick, a prerequisite to any Melo deal. Meanwhile, the Nets have the parameters in place for a blockbuster deal that also includes the Detroit Pistons, and are trying to set up a face-to-face meeting with Anthony to convince him of the virtues of being a Net.

The other 27 teams are most likely out of the picture for now. Few teams will be willing to give up significant assets for the superstar forward without a commitment that he will stick around past June 30. Without a signed extension, any team trading for the superstar forward risks losing him as a free agent this summer.

While Anthony still has not definitively ruled out remaining with Denver long-term, Nuggets executive VP Masai Ujiri nevertheless faces a ticking clock. If he does not work out a suitable deal for the forward by the Feb. 24 trade deadline, Ujiri risks losing his franchise cornerstone to free agency -- without compensation. As fans in Cleveland and Toronto will attest, this isn't an outcome he wants to contemplate.

Some people have speculated that if Ujiri fails to pull off a blockbuster trade by Feb. 24 he will have another chance after the season ends, such as on draft day. But this is highly unlikely, due to quirks of the rules and the structure of Anthony's contract.

Ordinarily a team is free to make trades once its season ends, and can continue to make deals through June 30. But teams are precluded from moving players whose contracts are ending in postseason deals. This also applies to players whose contracts might end by virtue of an option. If there's any chance the player could become a free agent, then he's officially off the postseason trade market.

Ordinarily, the player or team can simply pick up the option in order to make the player tradable -- with the option invoked that the contract would no longer be ending. However, Anthony possesses an early-termination option. With an ETO, the contract doesn't end unless the ETO is invoked.

Why is this important? Because there's no way to not invoke an ETO, other than by running out the clock. The player can either exercise his ETO and become a free agent, or wait for the deadline to pass on June 30. There's no mechanism to officially notify the team and league that he's not going to invoke his ETO.

So after the season players with ETOs are always considered potential free agents, and so can't be traded. The only way to trade such a player after the season is if the team and player mutually amend the player's contract to remove the ETO. The player would then be locked-in through the following season, and at that point a trade is possible.

But there are several disadvantages to the Nuggets in a postseason trade, decreasing the likelihood of such a scenario:

• Ujiri can't take back expiring contracts like he can before the trade deadline. A Melo trade would signal the retooling of the Nuggets franchise, and one of Ujiri's goals in such a trade would be to gain financial flexibility. This is usually achieved by acquiring expiring contracts, which drop off the books at season's end. If Ujiri wants to acquire an expiring contract, then he has to do so before the trade deadline, not after the season.

• Because he can't take back expiring contracts, many trades that would be available at the trade deadline would be illegal after the season. For instance, a deadline trade with the Knicks would likely include the expiring contract of Eddy Curry. Since Curry couldn't be included in a trade after the season, the teams would have to find another combination of players to fulfill the league's salary matching requirements. Curry would need to be replaced in the deal with a combination of players that includes Raymond Felton and either Ronny Turiaf (if he picks up his player option) or Timofey Mozgov.

• An after-the-season trade would not change the Nuggets' luxury tax position. Tax numbers are locked-in at the end of the regular season, and do not change with any subsequent trades. The Nuggets are currently slated to pay about $13.2 million in luxury tax, and would like to leverage a Melo trade to reduce or eliminate their tax burden. This would not be possible if the trade occurred after the season.

• Anthony's ETO can't be eliminated unless both he and the Nuggets agree. This means Ujiri would have to secure Anthony's consent for any postseason trade. The control Anthony currently wields over his own destiny would greatly increase, as he would be empowered with what amounts to a no-trade clause.

Bottom line -- if Anthony isn't traded by the Feb. 24 trade deadline, then it's unlikely that he will be traded before June 30. If Ujiri wants to maintain any control over the situation, then he has to move his superstar before the trade deadline. He can't rely on getting a second chance after the season ends. So an Anthony trade needs to take place by Feb. 24 -- or not at all.

Nice article! Wraps up why Melo won't just be traded; but be traded imminently.

Barring me, you, Trill one others are just totally wrong, and we've misread Melo entirely and this has been a huge charade -- and VERY illogical and non-sensical one...

Melo will be traded, to us, and for a modest offer.

DEN having final decision and the last move spells their doom.

DEN and Melo are the only ones who can lose here. Melo saying he will risk losing ($) and only get traded to us, and makes the final hot-potato pass to DEN; forcing DEN to pull the revolver's trigger on themselves, assuredly, and just hope the 2nd bullet fires (ie Melo gets hurt by the cba).

Or, assuredly, reap whatever value we offer, and they otherwise would not receive.

IMHO, in theory, Curry + Walker and DEN should do the deal. Emotions, spite, PR, and I'm sure some details n posturing will have us give more to seal **** off -- and shed extra salary to attack backup pg and big in offseason.

This is possibly why Walsh has yet to make trades for Melo...for the picks, Mayo, etc. He's weighing the necessity and the reality of our position. And letting time stroke by, letting the apocalypse DEN faces loom further.

Chandler AR, 1st, Walker, Curry. :crossfingers: And we get a backup big in this rich offseason, a decent p&r pg backup, and use our 2nds to draft some 1trick pony defensive guys. While letting Moz develop.

Moz, Jordan, Rautins, our 2nds. Maybe we even let Moz go if it helps us ink a backup pg and/or the big..

Jan 18, 2011, 16:43

la2ny

jus read this on espn haha

Jan 18, 2011, 17:27

LJ4ptplay

Denver can still trade him in the summer for a trade exception. So a crappy offer from us will not cut it. I imagine it will still take 3 out 4 of Chandler, Gallo, Fields, Randolph.

Jan 18, 2011, 17:30

Oldtimer

Trading for Melo

Trading for Melo and his extended contract is not that simple. Putting aside what assets we surrender to Denver in the trade, Melo's extended contract and Amare's contract for 2011-12 will cover almost $37M of whatever the cap might be. A cap under the new CBA is likely to be less than the current $58M. Waht will we have left for other players?

Felton's 2011 contract is $7.5M. With those 3 contracts it will be impossible to sign Chandler who, as a restricted free agent, will surely get offers of at least $10M per year. Chandler would have to be included in any trade to Denver, but he is not likely wanted in Denver because he might get offers Denver would not want to match. Perhaps a third team could get involved.

Melo wants the Knicks, but he also wants his extended contract-- and that is understandable. Donnie wants Melo, but certainly would like to wait until free agency. If we buy Melo and his contract we could well inherit long term cap problems under a new CBA. That contract is as uncertain for a team as it is for an individual player.

I do not know who is going to blink. I think Melo is waiting for the Knicks to make a move. I am not sure Donnie wants to pay the price for Melo in a trade. i think Denver is confident that Melo wants the extended contract. My guess is that Melo will take the money with the Nets but that this will drag on a bit.

Jan 18, 2011, 17:32

welcometonycity

Quote:

Originally Posted by LJ4ptplay

Denver can still trade him in the summer for a trade exception. So a crappy offer from us will not cut it. I imagine it will still take 3 out 4 of Chandler, Gallo, Fields, Randolph.

We are not going to have Randolph, we gettin that first round pick for him. So u mean 2 out of the 3 (Chandler, Gallo, Fields). Bye bye gallo and fields. WELCOME Carmelo. I dont get why people care if we lose good players to get a great player. Chemistry? How far are we going to get with the team we have now???????? We need melo. He will attract talent after he comes. Simple as that, just give it time. Lets sit and watch Donnie do work. (Hopefully). You put superstars together, they and role players will be forced to accept less money if they WANT to win a championship. Chandler cough cough. Like the miami situation.

Jan 18, 2011, 17:57

petescud

With the hesitating going on with this trade to the NETS, i'm feeling Melo said to his agent "I'm not going to NJ" so forget it. His good friend LBJ said to him, "if you want to compete with the heat for a championship, go to NY with Stoud.

I'm feeling the love guys...Melo's coming, and Donnie is going to steal him the longer this last. Donnie's probably hoping it going on to February...

Not sure of Denver's needs, but here's something i'll guess at. How about

Walker-Douglas-Azzy-Curry a first and second rounder and done deal....stolen

My guess is Mason and Rautins get there minutes then to see if they will be part of our future

Jan 18, 2011, 19:20

LJ4ptplay

Quote:

Originally Posted by welcometonycity

We are not going to have Randolph, we gettin that first round pick for him. So u mean 2 out of the 3 (Chandler, Gallo, Fields). Bye bye gallo and fields. WELCOME Carmelo. I dont get why people care if we lose good players to get a great player. Chemistry? How far are we going to get with the team we have now???????? We need melo. He will attract talent after he comes. Simple as that, just give it time. Lets sit and watch Donnie do work. (Hopefully). You put superstars together, they and role players will be forced to accept less money if they WANT to win a championship. Chandler cough cough. Like the miami situation.

3 out of 4, 2 out of 3. It's the same. 3 out of the 4 players mentioned will be used to get Melo. We are not getting Melo for scraps. Denver will take the trade exception instead.

And as Oldtimer alluded to, the new CBA will be just as constricting to teams as it is to players. There is a lot of talk of there not being a MLE anymore. If we trade 3 out of 4 for Melo and there is no MLE, we're f**ked. We can forget about competing for any championship if this very likely future comes true.